The invention relates to firearms and particularly to apparatus for receiving cartridge cases which are ejected by a firearm.
Various apparatus for receiving ejected cartridge cases are known. Known apparatus includes those described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,354,277; 4,028,834; 4,166,333; 4,204,353.
Many rifles, including semi-automaic and automatic rifles, discharge empty or spent cartridge cases a considerable distance from the firearm from which they are fired. One such rifle is the model HK-91, manufactured by Heckler and Koch. The vigorous ejection of cartridge cases has the side effect that the cartridge cases are vulnerable to being damaged if an attempt is made to collect them in conventional apparatus. An additional effect is that if the cartridge cases are allowed to fly through the air without any attempt being made to collect them, they are easily lost. The difficulty of finding the ejected cartridge cases is typically aggravated by the speed with which they are ejected and the concentration of the user of the firearm on a target, thus making it difficult for the user to observe the location where they fall. Frequently the cartridge cases will be deposited where they may be hidden by grass, bushes and other objects which will further complicate the retrieval process. Because the cartridge cases may be reloaded and used many times, this is very expensive, particularly when the weapon is being used for target shooting or other uses where a large quantity of ammunition is being expended.
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus which will receive and collect without damage cartridge cases which have been ejected by a firearm.
It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus which has a permanently attached receptacle for containing the cartridge cases and which thus will not be vulnerable to being inadvertently detached or lost.
It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus which is compatible with known telescopic sights and mounts for such telescopic sights.
Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which will not damage either the firearm itself or any of the associated telescopic sight or sight mounting apparatus.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.